To be brief...

Chinatown is still here, we are still doing missionary work, and the pork buns are still delicious.

Do I need to say more?

Okay, maybe I'll say a little.

We have been contacting SO MUCH recently, and it has been awesome.  I think we have been on the streets more in the past couple weeks than I was my entire last cycle.  Hallelujah!  We are finding people who are interested in learning about the gospel, which is great, and we have seen some pretty awesome miracles as a result of our diligence.

Including yesterday, when I went up to the dentist with another sister who needed some work done and had a half hour long conversation in Spanish with a wonderful Peruvian man.  He was patient with me, and I was surprised by how well we communicated.  He even took a mormon.org card at the end of our conversation.  Next step: meet missionaries that actually speak Spanish.

We have had our fair share of awkward missionary moments as well, including an acupuncturist that I contacted massaging my ear in the middle of the sidewalk because I was "too cold" by her definition.  Yep. That happened.

Despite the crazy moments, the Lord loves His children.  That's about what I've learned in the past few weeks.  And He always will.

Love you!

Sister Beer

In Which the Chinese Missionaries FINALLY Arrive.

They are here. :)

Yesterday Sister Lee and I went up to the mission home to welcome the
arrival of Sister Chan, Sister Chen, Sister Astle, Sister Palmer, Elder
Atkinson, and the ASL Elder Anson.  It was awesome.  I was so happy to see
the 陈s again, and the new missionaries are fantastic.  It was special for
us to see them come out of the terminal and welcome them to the mission.  I
love Sister Astle already, and I am super excited for her, Sister Chan, and
I to start doing missionary work together.

I can't let this week go by without saying something about General
Conference.

It was amazing.

Also, I loved how in Russell M Ballard's talk he challenged the whole
Church to invite at least one person to come unto Christ before Christmas.
What an awesome invitation!  We get to help someone that we care about, be
it a friend, a family member, or anyone else we know, feel a little bit
about how we feel about our Father in Heaven and His plan for us.  I'm in,
how about all of you?

Today is a short letter (lots to do!) but remember how much I love all of
you.  We are so loved by Heavenly Father.  He wants the best for us, and
for you.  Don't forget that.

Love you!

Sister Beer

We use these little bags from a store called Muji to store
contacting materials, and I bought new one last week because the one I got
when I arrived in Chinatown was starting to break.  Also, it may have been
a bit dirty.  Oops.

New Sisters!  From left: Sister Chan, Sister Lee, Sister
Palmer, Sister Astle, Sister Beer

And you thought LAST week was good....

Man, life here just keeps getting better and better.

The evening after I last wrote you all, I received a call from President Morgan.  I have been released as a Sister Training Leader and called to be a trainer in Chinatown.  I am going to train again!  Her name is Sister Astel, and I am SUPER excited for her to come.  What's more is that Sister Chan is coming back from Temple Square and will be the third in our happy tri-panionship.

"Why isn't she here today?" you might ask, "isn't today transfers?"  

Yes, it is transfers today, but the MTC didn't want to let Sister Astel and her companion out of the MTC a week early, so they are keeping them and instead Sister Lee (who is also training) get to be companions for a week while we wait for them.  AND we get to go to the mission home to pick them up.  My life is awesome.

We did say goodbye to Sister Woo today, which was hard.  I love Sister Woo and am incredibly grateful for the example she set for me through her service.  I learned lots from her while we were companions.  With her leaving I am now the senior sister in Chinatown, which is a rather strange feeling.  When did I get old in the mission?

The other incredible thing to happen this week was the baptism of seven incredible people into our ward.  I was reminded of Doctrine and Covenants18:10,15-16 as I saw them enter the waters of baptism and make a covenant with God.  I have never been so happy for anyone before!  I know the change that many of them have gone through to follow Christ, and I admire them for it.  Being a member of the Church is not easy for many of the people we teach, but the people that are willing to make the sacrifice receive incredible blessings as a result.

To avoid the risk of going to long and becoming uninteresting, I will leave off here.  Missionary work is the best.  I am excited for the future with my new trainee, and for the avenues that the Lord is opening for us to progress with His work.  I love you all, and will write again next week!

Love,

Sister Beer

BYU Theaterites.  We're pretty awesome.

One day Sister Woo and I bought matching shoes.  Also, this looks like it belongs in a wedding album.